Cesc Fabregas has admitted the fear factor is in danger of wrecking Arsenal's Premier League hopes.

Fabregas says Arsenal were "scared" when they lost at Manchester United last week when that defeat put a major dent in their title chances.

Arsenal captain Fabregas also confessed they were beaten mentally by United as he insisted they could have no complaints by the defeat at Old Trafford.

Fabregas said: "The difference on the night was that we were scared of losing but they were not scared of winning. That was the big difference that played in our heads. We can not complain about anything. They were better than us.

"Sometimes we seem scared of losing these big games. We don't really go for it and we're tempted to drop back and see what the opposition will do.

"We look to see if we are capable of beating them by what they are doing and how good they are on the day instead of us going forward causing them problems and dominating the game ourselves. That was the problem I think.

"I don't think that we dominated possession as much as we have on other occasions. What we can say is that they were more aggressive than us.

"They have a belief that comes from not losing at all this season. That gives you a lot of help mentally. I am realising more and more that football is about confidence and mentality.

"Sometimes you do the right thing, but if people tell you it is not right, you start believing it, even though you were right at first."

Arsenal have a poor recent record against their title rivals and have already lost this season at Old Trafford and Chelsea.

But Chelsea are up next for Arsenal after Saturday's game with Stoke was postponed because of the weather and manager Arsene Wenger is convinced his side are still in a strong position.

Wenger said: "Don't forget that we have played at Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, so we are in a very strong position."

Fabregas added: "We have already played all the games against the rest of the top four sides away from home. They have all to come to Emirates and we know that we can beat anyone at home. That gives us morale and confidence."

Meanwhile, Arsenal defender Gael Clichy has admitted they must learn from their painful defeat at Old Trafford as he confessed they were exposed defensively by Manchester United far too often.

Clichy added: "They (United) played well defensively not only at the back but as a unit. A big factor in the game was that their defence was never exposed one against one.

"If you don't concede goals as a team - I am not talking about the defence but the whole team - then you have a fair chance of winning the game.

"When we talk about togetherness for me that's about the game Man United played against us. Everyone was running for each other and no one was scared of doing the dirty work - tracking back is as important as making assists.

"Maybe we should be inspired because that was, from start to finish, a real unit. I don't say that we should do exactly the same because our game is different but we saw Inter Milan win the Champions League playing similarly.

"And you can see that for all their good football, Barcelona's players all work solidly together in defence too.

"It can happen once or twice that your defence is exposed but it shouldn't be every time and that's one point we can improve on.

"Once again, I am not saying that teams like United and Chelsea are better than us. We know that we have amazing players on all positions and we have to keep playing our football but we must be more compact, home and away."